The story of Dharmaruci In the Divyāvadāna and Kemendra's Bodhisattvāvadānakalpalatā

Abstract

AbstractOf the myriad tales found in Indian Buddhist literature, the story of Dharmaruci is, from many points of view, among the more interesting, engaging as it does iconic themes of incest and patricide. A great deal may be said about this story, particularly in comparison with the tale of Mahādeva, the schismatic monk blamed by some for the initial rupture in the Buddhist monastic community roughly a century after the death of the Buddha. Any detailed study of this story, as of any such story, however, naturally requires the best possible textual sources. The present contribution, therefore, is dedicated in the first place to an effort to establish the textual basis for the Dharmaruci story in Indian sources in Sanskrit, as found in the Divyāvadāna collection, and upon that basis in Kemendra's Bodhisattvāvadānakalpalatā.